Forever
by oOKayleeOo
Summary: The Animorphs are faced with a tough decision when they realize that they're not getting any older.
1. 1 The Fact

Rachel had known that they wouldn't notice. She'd laughed and said it'd be like nothing ever happened. Their parents would finally approve of them when they were no longer there. Of course, she pointed out, none of them had been truly '_there'_ since the short-cut. They'd been _elsewhere_. Not home. Not with the family. Always at war. Even when they were sleeping. Even when they were dead.

Cassie wanted to disagree. More than anything she wanted to believe that in two days when she'd walk down into the kitchen her mum would look up from her morning coffee and know it wasn't her. That it was someone else pretending. But…. But last time the Chi had taken over the job of being Cassie: 'the Good Daughter' and Cassie: 'The Good Student', her parents had liked her more. Complained when the real Cassie came home and her grades returned to below par. Cassie wanted to believe….but…she knew otherwise.

_Maybe he'd be happier._ That was all Marco could think. Maybe…he could move on, get a girlfriend have a life outside the mourning. Maybe... Marco lay on the bed, arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He could hear his father singing off key in the kitchen as he made lunch. Marco closed his eyes and savored the moment. Trying to commit every detail to memory. Because he knew soon, very soon it would be all he had. A memory. Like his mother. Like his father. Like his family. He tried to crack a silent joke. But the only thing Marco felt cracking was himself. At that moment, serenaded by his father's terrible voice, Marco began to cry.

Jake just stared across the dinner table at his brother. Tom; noticing the vacant expression, gave the boy a smirk behind his fork. Jake knew they wouldn't notice the difference. They hadn't the first time round, no chance they would the second. He knew it was best that way…but…

"Honey," Jake's mother looked across the table to her youngest son brooding in his chair. She was worried about him. He never used to be like this. So closed off, so distant. "You've hardly touched your dinner." Jake just stared at the woman for a moment. Stating the fact as if it were important. As if whether or not he ate dinner would cause world panic. As if it mattered. Without speaking Jake looked back down to the curry he'd been playing with. It was already going cold.

"I had a late lunch." he lied. It was easy to lie now. So much easier than telling the truth.

His mum looked like she was about to say something else, but a stern expression from Jake's father cut her off and the table fell back into silence.

Jake began staring vacantly at Tom again, trying to imagine the Yerk that smothered his brain; choking him into silence. Jake tried to imagine what Tom was doing right now. Was he screaming? Was he begging? Was he silent?

"What?" the Yerk asked, rising a cautious hand to Tom's mouth. "Do I have something in my teeth?"


	2. 2 The Dawn

Chapter 2: The dawn

_Chapter 2: The dawn_

The decision had been made for them. It had been made the moment they touched the blue little box. Although none of them knew it at the time. Would they have touched it if they had? Well, maybe Marco would've. Just for kicks.

They didn't notice it at first, it was other people.

"Damn, Rachel." Melissa whined, "how do you keep your skin so smooth?!" she demanded, dabbing even more concealer onto a zit. Rachel looked into the bathroom mirror and shrugged nonchalantly as she fixed her hair. She'd not had a zit in her life and Melissa hated her for it.

"You know me," Rachel joked. "Perfect." Just another lie on top of all the other ones she'd told.

Melissa just rolled her eyes. "Get over yourself." she grinned, grabbing her bag and headed towards the door. She paused and turned back when Rachel didn't move with her. "Coming?" the brunette prompted.

"Yeah," Rachel responded, momentarily distracted by her own reflection. Something just seemed off. Xena; Warrior Princess shook her head slightly, trying to shake the feeling and followed her friend out the bathroom door and into the school hall. That beautiful, fake smile plastered on her beautiful, fake face.

It had been her mother that had pointed it out to Cassie. She'd been trying to find some clean clothes for school. Preferably the ones with the least amount of animal doo on them. It was a difficult mission, and, in all honesty Cassie wasn't up for it. She'd gotten home at five that morning. It had been more difficult than usual because she'd forgotten to leave her window open. Breaking in to your own home whilst wearing a leotard is never a good look. Especially at five a.m. Cassie was feeling pretty hollow right then. In the end she chose a dirty pair of overalls from a corner and a red tee she'd found hiding behind the door. It didn't smell too good. But right then, Cassie didn't care. If her parents weren't home that morning Cassie would have skipped school again. Preferring bed to reality. Reality was just too much for the girl right then. She sighed, trying to keep her eyes open and glanced around the room for her half-started assignment that was due that afternoon. She remembered vaguely that once-upon-a-never-time her room had been clean. Not spotless, but clean. Now she could hardly see the floor. She found the assignment under a forgotten lunch from what looked about three weeks ago. She grabbed the dog-eared paper and headed into the kitchen.

Her mother was already there. She looked up from her morning coffee to her daughter, giving Cassie a weak smile. "You really need to wash your clothes more often." her mother greeted.

"Looked in a mirror lately, Mum?" responded Cassie with half a smile. The woman was in her work clothes, which were, by far, more filthy than Cassie's.

"But I'm not going to school." Her mother retorted, smiling herself.

_Nether am I._ Cassie wanted to say. _I'm off to kill innocent people in the name of war. I'm off to risk my life for humanity. I might not be coming home tonight._ "You got me there." Cassie smiled.

Cassie's mother frowned, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. For a moment Cassie thought her mother had caught the lie. She held her breath unintentionally. A thousand lies of explanation came to mind.

"Didn't your Dad buy that for your 14th?" she asked, indicating to the red tee.

A little thrown off by the question, Cassie had to do a double take on the shirt she'd randomly grabbed five minutes before hand. She wasn't even sure it was red. That might just have been all the blood on her hands, in her mouth, through her fur…Cassie looked down at the shirt, "yeah," she replied. Not thinking much about it.

"I'm surprised you haven't out grown it yet." The woman commented, and returned to her coffee not giving it another thought. Cassie did. It planted a seed. The shirt fit perfectly. She'd had it for almost four years. She'd been an Animorph for about that long…

"Hey Shorty," Tom greeted as he caught the basket ball and made a throw at the hoop. It missed and Jake couldn't help but smirk. The real Tom wouldn't have missed. The real Tom wouldn't have quit the team. The real Tom….Jake could have gone on this line for hours. He had so many times before. In-between fighting for his life and dying in his dreams. He reserved that time for Tom and his Yerk.

"Common," Jake groaned, catching the ball and making a throw for the hoop. Good aim, the ball went in the net and bounced back to him. Catching the ball and shooting it over to his infested brother Jake asked, "don't 'ya think the "Shorty" thing's getting a bit old?".

The Yerk laughed. Jake hated it when the Yerk laughed, it looked too much like Tom screaming. His brother was right there, and Jake couldn't save him. "I'll stop calling you "Shorty" when you actually grow an inch."

Jake glowered at his brother. While he wasn't anywhere near the shortest man on the planet (Marco fitted that profile), Jake was officially the shortest guy in the family. He was roughly the same height he'd been at fourteen. His voice still cracked occasionally, which was embarrassing because the young man was almost seventeen.

The Yerk smirked, knowing he'd hit a sore point. "Of course they've got pills for that now." The Yerk said, offhandedly.

"For what?" Jake asked before he could stop himself.

"For dwarfism." Tom responded, and threw the ball. This time it met its target.

Marco cut his hair. It didn't grow back. Things were getting pretty obvious now. Even if no one wanted to say anything. Marco cut his hair. It didn't grow back. They couldn't ignore it, although they tried. Marco cut his hair.

"Hey, look," Rachel said, her tone already dripping with sarcasm as she gave Marco a 'friendly' shove. "Now your hair's short like the rest of you."

"Common," Marco retaliated, "Sixteen years old and that's the best you can come up with?" He was having difficulty maintaining the upset expression he'd plastered on. "Honestly Rachel, I'm embarrassed for the both of us." Marco placed a pained hand to his chest and Rachel gave him a slightly less 'friendly' shove.

Tobias; the bird. Tobias; the boy. The hawk half closed its eyes in the noon-day sun. It knew it should be using this moment to take advantage of the prime-time thermals and hunt. But the boy inside the bird stayed its instincts and meditated. Listening to all the sounds of the field. Listening for the sound of someone moving through the unkempt grass. He didn't know why she always morphed back to human when she got to the field. He didn't know if she was aware that she did. But Tobias had his theories, and he wasn't going to be sharing them with her any time soon.

Tobias knew her face like he knew her mind, but the two were completely unrelated. He remembered her face, her smile, her voice. Exactly as it was when he'd seen her in the hallways of hell. A beautiful angel that didn't even know that he existed. He was less than a bleep. Less than background. He was white noise. Back then. Now he was bird-boy and she was…the bird's eyes flickered open ats the sound of movement. A small mouse stalking a beetle. He could eat a mouse. Tobias swooped from his perch, his shadow eloping the tiny mammal as it froze in terror. The hawk killed instantly. Tobias couldn't stand letting the thing suffer as he ripped it to pieces devouring the tiny soul. Rachel was…

Rachel was moving through the field, Tobias loved to watch her as she walked through the tall grass. Within his habitat but not of it. Moving towards his tree. Swiftly Tobias discarded the remains of his snack.

(Shouldn't you be in school?) he asked, cocking his predatory head to one side.

Rachel looked up at the bird on its branch with cold eyes. Rachel was Xena. She had been changed by the war just as much as he. She knew it, Tobias knew it. They had an understanding. It was something they shared in their silences spent together.


	3. 3 The Decision

Chapter Three: The decision

They weren't growing older. Sure, they were growing up. They had to. Otherwise they would be five dead little teens, missing in action. Four dead animals left out to rot, or even worse. As Marco had put it one afternoon in Cassie's barn: 'the walking dead'. Ax, in an act of human incomprehension had of course corrected him that Controllers weren't dead, merely enslaved. He still didn't understand even after Cassie tried to explain that enslavement for them was the same as death; if not worse.

"Freedom is what makes us feel alive." she had said.

(Chemical reactions make you feel alive.) Ax corrected, speaking as though he were communicating with a small child. No doubt how he felt at often times.

"Just give up." Rachel said rather boredly from her hay bale, she was eying off an injured wolf in a cage. It was growling at her. Cassie wondered what her friend was thinking. Did she identify with the caged animal? Was it herself she saw behind the metal grate? Cassie looked over to the wolf, and stared back at herself.

"What are we going to do?" it was Jake who said it. It was always Jake who initiated things, brought them into light and into action. Even if he didn't want to. He looked around at the others, each trying to avoid his eyes and everyone else's in the barn as well. Only Ax stared evenly and unblinking back at the boy.

No one wanted to answer. Not since Rachel's offer. Not since she said "die". Fake their own deaths. And continue the war, dead to the world. No longer Jake, Cassie, Marco, and, Rachel. Just the Animorphs. Just warriors. Because, in the end, the war was bigger than they were. The idea terrified them, because it would work. It would solve all their problems. No more school, no more lies. Kill themselves, and in the process kill their families.

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Marco was disgusted with the idea. He would rather quit the Animorphs than do that to his father. No one liked it, not even Rachel, soulless killer wanted to put the dark plan into action. It wasn't their own death's that disturbed and tore at them, but the broken families left to pick up the pieces.

Silence.

"We can't just keep going on like this." Jake prompted, talking to himself more than the others now. "People are noticing….we're not…." Jake tried to think of the right words, the words that would make them all come together as a group, make plans, move forward. "….changing."

"Pfft." Marco let out a sour laugh. "We change every hour. Now I'm a boy, now I'm a bug, now I'm a boy, now I'm a buffalo."

"You don't have a buffalo morph." Rachel pointed out, crossing her arms and looking to the rafters, trying to see if Tobias had decided to eavesdrop on the private meeting.

"It rhymed." Marco retaliated seriously, Rachel wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"You know what I mean." Jake said sternly, not allowing them to get off topic. It was easier said than done, no one wanted to be a part of the conversation. No one wanted to admit it was happening. After all, it should be impossible.

It was unprecedented with the andilites. Not even with early testing had results like these arisen. At least none that Axmilli had heard of, and as far as the young warrior was aware all information on the development and design of the morphing cube was public knowledge. It was the ultimate price of their gift. Ax had deduced. The vital flaw. The technology didn't acknowledge the human body as Point Of Origin. Designed only for andilites the machine simply returned them to the physical moment in time wherein the four had first touched the little blue box. That their own bodies were considered an acquired form.

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"What about the Chi?" asked Cassie, she'd been silent though most of the strained conversation. Only speaking once to tell Marco and Rachel to quietn down or they'd attract her parents.

"What about them?" Jake asked. He seemed to be the only one contributing to the conversation.

"Well," Cassie didn't really want to put the idea forward. She wanted to stay with her family forever. _Forever is a very long time. _The thought had popped into her head before she could stop it. Forever. It was scary. They hadn't aged a day, had they? Not since the night when the strange, beautiful creature had died before them and given the children the reason, means and power to fight. It was terrifying to look across at Jake and see the same thirteen year old boy staring back at her. They'd already grown old. They just hadn't grown up.

"You gonna finish that sentence?" Rachel demanded, pulling Cassie out of her spiraling thoughts. Rachel was now lounging on the bale, ignoring the wolf, although it was still growling at her like she was a threat. "Or you just gonna leave us hanging?"

Cassie blinked a few times, trying to get back on topic. Jake was still staring at her, waiting patiently for Cassie to continue. She didn't want to. She didn't want to do a lot of things. But she did. Didn't want to cry herself to sleep most nights; but she did. Didn't want to kill innocent people; but she did. Didn't want to die; but she died that the moment she touched the blue box. They were fighting for the freedom they would never have. "They could be us." There, she'd said it. She waited silently, almost panicked for the response.

Jake took this in. "They might not want to." Said he, always assessing all options before making a decision. That's what made him a good leader. That's why they'd survived the way they did for so long.

"Then there's always plan B if that falls through." Rachel reminded them, always blunt and to the point. Difference was she only used to be like that when shopping with Cassie and her horrendous taste in clothes.

Nobody liked plan B.

"I'll talk to Eric about it tomorrow." Jake announced, taking initiative, taking action.

Jake, Marco and Ax left shortly after the decision was made. Rachel had been invited to stay over night. Cassie's parents liked it when she was social. They were worried that their intelligent daughter didn't have enough friends. Rachel came over as much for 'fun' as she did to keep up appearances. Cassie returned the favor in a likewise manner. Rachel had laughed when Cassie's father had cracked a lame Dad Joke, and had thanked the family for a 'delicious dinner' otherwise known as 'al la leftovers form the freezer'. This was followed by good old TV for a couple of hours

"Where will we go?" Cassie asked in the dead of night, the topic had managed to be avoided all throughout the stay. But now, lying in the silence of Cassie's room. The window open in case of emergency. Those dark thoughts crept in. Rachel was silent for a moment as she tried to think of an answer.

"I don't know." it wasn't the best one she'd ever come up with. "Maybe spend a little time with the Hork Bajar until we can get ourselves some fake IDs. The Chi might be able to help us out with that." Rachel sighed, "I don't know."

Cassie nodded , rolled onto her side facing her friend on the fold out mattress on the floor. "Looks like we're stuck with each other for a while." she said, smiling weakly.

Rachel smiled back. "I could think of worse." She responded.

"Yeah," asked Cassie, stifling a yourn, "like what?"

"Like Marco's ego getting any bigger." Rachel answered.


	4. 4 The Missing

_Chapter four: The Missing_

Marco got home from school before his father. It was a rare occasion that he even went to school now, let alone got home before his dad. The house was disturbingly silent when he'd arrived. Marco had taken to an extreme dislike for silence since their resistance began. Couldn't stand it. Reminded him of death. Of waking up to the realization that his was mother gone. Waking up to the realization that she wasn't. Waking up to the realization that he would never grow old. Not as long as he fought.

Marco flicked on the T.V. and stared at the colors on the screen. Jake's words running through his mind. Somehow, after all he'd been through Marco still couldn't believe it.

"Eric says he can do it." Jake's words as they met up at Cassie's barn. Marco glacned up to spot Tobias: Bird Boy take his place amoung the rafters.

"What, all by himself?" Marco joked, it was a lame joke, everyone just ignored him. Even Rachel. They knew he was just panicking. They all were.

"When?" Cassie whispered, an expression of terror moving across her unchanged nearly-fourteen-year-old face.

Marco didn't want to hear the answer. Marco didn't want to be there. Marco wanted to scream. Wanted to punch Jake, strangle him, morph gorilla and crush the breath out of the boy to stop him from saying what he said next. Stop him from setting the date.  
"Two days."

Cassie let out a gasp, and Rachel's face closed over, like it did when they were about to do something life threateningly stupid. She went that safe place inside her head. Jake just looked tired. And Marco felt another part of him shrivel up and die.

_Two days._

With the T.V. blasting through the house, Marco moved into the kitchen with the intent of cooking his father dinner. Spend some quality time together. Hadn't done that since….Marco couldn't actually remember when he'd last sat down to spend some meaningless time with his dad. The thought disturbed him. The Yearks had taken everything from him. His mother, his father, his youth and future.

There was that anger again. The rage that he tried to ignore, to smother with jokes. But it was getting harder each time. He just wanted to lash out and hurt things. Hurt people. He wanted to morph right there and then and trash the house. Trash the neighbor's house, 'go ape' as it were.

Marco clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and tried to calm his breathing.

He didn't cook dinner, didn't even start. Just stood in the kitchen for the better part of fifteen minutes, ridged with the anger. Trying to bring himself back down. Two days. Marco took in a deep breath as the tired calm overwhelmed him. Two days. Would his father even know he was missing?

Rachel didn't want to go home. She wanted to fly. She wanted to spread her strong, stiff yet subtle wings and soar. This wasn't hard for her. She'd abandoned her family years ago. She could still remember the night; eating dinner in front of the T.V. with her sisters that Rachel realized she knew nothing about them. They could have spent a week in juvy, or been child geniuses and Rachel wouldn't have had a clue. She wasn't even sure she'd really care. It wasn't that she didn't love them, or her mum for that matter. It was just that….Rachel tried to put it into words as she took of, letting the eagle's mind guide her as she retreated to her thoughts. It was just that they were a part of the Rachel that wasn't there anymore. The Rachel that loved gymnastics and thought the uneven bars was like flying. The Rachel that loved to shop, and could spend hours deciding whether or not to buy a top.

She tilted her right wing slightly, gaining more height, so that the world became a pattern beneath her. Oh well, two more days and they'd be getting that Rachel back. This Rachel, the one that scared her sisters into obedience and worried her mother, would be gone from their lives. The real Rachel would be dead to them. And they could grow old with the lies.

She screamed, the eagle's cry piercing the sky and hearts of all small animals that heard it.

Cassie stared out the barn door, she was meant to be tending the animals, however kept getting distracted. Her father was re-stitching a wolf's cheek. In the distance, she could make out the silluete of a bald eagle. It was flying much higher than it ought to. And wondered if it was Rachel. Cassie worried about Rachel, she spent so much time in morph. More than anyone else. More than she should. Sometimes Cassie was worried that the girl would simply refuse to morph back. Sometimes Cassie worried that she would do the same thing.

"You seem quieter than usual." Her father stated, glancing over at his daughter momentarily. Cassie tried to reassure the man with a weak smile.

"Deep thinker." she answered, regretting it instantly.

"Thinking deep, huh?" he asked, concentrating on the stitches, praying that the anesthetic would keep the animal out until he was finished. "What about?"

_Never seeing you or Mum again. _Cassie thought. "Things." She responded.

"You gonna elaborate?" he asked, giving Cassie a longer glance this time. As if he were considering starting up an important and untimely conversation. That was the last thing she needed. No doubt it would be the massive slip in her grades. Sure she used to be an A average. She'd even managed to maintain it for a while after the blue box fiasco, but she'd been sitting on E for about two years now. It had terrified her when she'd over heard her parents discussing whether or not her grades were related to some kind of mental breakdown. _Yeah, _Cassie had thought at the time, _present_ _traumatic stress disorder._ And whether or not they should get her counseling. That had been two years ago and nothing had happened. But she didn't want that conversation now. Two days and they'd be proud of her again. Two days and she'd be perfect. Two days and she'd be missing.

"Boys." Cassie answered, she got the desired response, thankfully_, _he went awkwardly silent and returned back to the animal. Concentrating on it more so than he'd ever concentrated on anything before in his life.

After the woogie beast was back in it's enclosure, he turned to Cassie, who was removing her filthy boots and overalls before heading back inside for dinner. "Any boy in particular?" he asked sheepishly.

"Huh?" Cassie looked up at her father with huge, confused, doe eyes. She had no idea what he was talking about.

"Love you mum," Jake said as he walked into the lounge-room, tossing his bag onto the floor and helping her set the table. He hadn't done that in ages. Used to avoid it at all costs. Now he wanted to.

His mother gave him a confused smile, as if she just couldn't work him out. "Love you too?" she responded as if it were a question. As if Jake were testing her for something. Jake just shook his head, taking the plates out of her hands and setting them on the table. There was four more than usual.

"Who's coming for dinner?" he asked, not sure if he was going to like the answer. He'd become paranoid of strangers in the house. Kept thinking they were Yerks come to take him. Down into the tunnels, to the pier and the pool.

"Aunt Naomi and the kids," answered his mother, smiling, "I know you see Rachel at school all the time." she continued, heading back into the kitchen to grab more serviettes. "But I haven't seen her since Christmas. She must be all grown by up now." The woman didn't know how wrong she was.

The dinner had been awkward. Rachel and Jake remained silent throughout most of it. Unable to answer simple questions because they couldn't concentrate on the conversation for more than a few contingences at a time. Rachel's sisters were enjoying themselves though, they thought their cousin Jake was 'uber cool', even if he sometimes scared them like Rachel always did. The look in his eyes sometimes. He had the look now, and as much as they wanted to pester him. They'd learnt from time spent with Rachel not to interrupt his silence.

"Wow, Jake," Naomi smiled, "you've grown into quite the young man." Jake glanced up from the space he'd been staring into at the mention of his name.

"Yeah." he smiled. Jake had no idea what the woman had said, but thought 'yeah' was universal enough to cover it. "Still going through the moody teen phase?" she asked, her attention returning to Jake's parents. Acting like he wasn't there. "Mine's doing the same."

Neither of them were.


	5. 5 The Option

_Chapter five: The Option_

Axe had worked the equation out, of course. Why they were trapped in their own, privet little time loop. It was the morphs. Just like a reset button, every time they used it they went right back to the start. To the physical instant that they reached out and touched fate. He had broached the sound theory with Prince Jake first. Unsure of whether Jake would want to provide this information with a potentially flightily and often indecisive group so close to D Day. That idea of secrecy never crossed Jake's mind.

(Theoretically,) Axe had said, his alien expressions making it all but impossible for the others to read, (if you were to no longer morph, your age would continue un-ultered.)

"That's not an option." Rachel's response was instantaneous. Leaving herself no option for contemplation or second guessing. They were located in the small forest behind Cassi's farm. It was a safe place for dangerous conversations. The angry young girl crossed her bare arms and stared the alien down. "This war is more important than any of us."

Cassie looked down at her feet, wriggling her toes in the soft pine covered earth. It sounded wonderful, this unexpected option...

But if she were honest with herself... could she give up the morph? Never move as she could now? Through air, water and on land? Could she quit the war and give up this weapon that felt so much a part of her that it was like breathing? Could she? Could she live with herself if she did?

Jake remained silent, looking from one member to the next assessing the responses. He wouldn't hold a grudge if one stepped down. Backed out. It was an impossible ask of four adolescents. To literally give up their lives and turn themselves in to terrorists.

For longer than he would like to admit, even to himself, Marco had considered it. More than considered, been ecstatic. Another option. Another way out. To stay and grow old. An idea that had played with him since the beginning. An escape. Don't morph, don't fight, don't leave his father. The unspoken offer was right before him. He could taste the freedom , the total lack of responsibility and utter shame just waiting for a voice. Waiting for him to say 'I'm done'. He took in a heavy breath, wet his lips and almost whispered his life changing decision to his comrades

Author's Note:

Sorry for the crappy chapter. My laptop had an accident and doesn't talk to me anymore, so I had to try and remember where the plot was heading. Should have the rest up soon.


	6. 6 The End

_The End_

Cassie's mum looked up from her morning coffee as her daughter entered the kitchen, Cassie's father was at the bench, ready to catch his toast before heading out to the barn.

"Good morning." Cassie greeted, beaming at her parents.

Her mother beamed back, "morning, Sweetheart." She responded from the table. Her dad grabbed the toast as it popped and instantly began to butter it, this practice so grained into him it had become second nature.

"What's got you so chirpy today?" he asked, glancing up from his masterpiece.

Cassie gave a dramatic stretch, and gave her clean, green top a bit of a morning scratch. "Just happy to be alive." she responded, double checking that she'd packed everything she needed for school. "Do you mind if Rachel comes over tonight?" she asked, "we've got a Chem assignment for extra credit and we want top marks."

Her parents stared with open mouths at their child, "O-of course." her mother stuttered, just so happy that maybe, just maybe, whatever slump Cassie had been in for the past few years was finally over.

"She can stay the night if you want." her father offered, carrying his breakfast back to the kitchen table.

"Thanks." Cassie smiled.

They had their baby back.

Her sisters had noticed straight away, and they were thankful to say the least.

They had just woken up one morning and there she was; waiting for them in the den with freshly made blueberry pancakes and Saturday morning cartoons. At first they were suspicious; Rachel hated the T.V. on in the morning. Always wanted to sleep in, and cartoons with guns and explosions were outright banned. She always got angry when she heard them…but there she was, with a big, toothy smile.

Her mother had awoken to the sounds of giggles that drew her towards the den. She watched from the door as Rachel tackled her siblings to the ground tickling them until they cried for mercy. She smiled.

Everything was going to be all right.

Marco was studying when his father got home from work; he had Chinese in a box with him when he came in.

"Hey," Marco called when he heard his dad in the hall.

"Hey," his father echoed.

Marco got up and walked into the hallway, spotting his father having difficulty juggling the briefcase and the food, Marco intervened. Removing both the briefcase and the food and taking them into the kitchen.

"Uh, thanks." Smiled his father, grateful but a little surprised by Marco's thoughtful action. It was not that the young man wasn't thoughtful; he just wasn't good at putting thoughts into action.

"How was your day?" Marco asked as he removed the food from their cartons and into some clean bowls.

"Good…" Responded his father, not knowing where this well behaved act was taking him. He assumed it was somewhere bad. "What have you done now?" he asked, expecting this extravagant act was to soften the blow of detention. Possibly even suspension with Marco's track record. He just hoped the young man hadn't been playing chemistry with acids in the teacher's lounge again.

Marco seemed genuinely confused by the accusation, "I got a A+ in my History test at school today?" he offered for explanation.

"You're joking." his father was shocked, more than shocked, he didn't believe a word his son had spoken.

"Why would I be joking?"

Marco's dad let out a huge whoop, clapping his hands. "Way'ta go Champ!" he congratulated, giving Marco an approving whack on the back.

Later, he'd tell Marco that he'd finally asked Rhonda from work out on a date.

Tom burst out laughing, spurting half chewed dinner across the table.

"Tom, that's disgusting!" His mother squealed, trying to protect her plate from the flying derby.

"It's Jake's fault!" Tom accused, thrusting a finger at his brother across the table. Jake pulled an innocent expression. "Please," Tom joked, "Like anyone could trust a face like yours."

The table had never sounded so loud. Mr. and Mrs. Brynson had forgotten how noisy it was to have children that acted like siblings. She hadn't seen her youngest this happy in a long time. He looked healthier than she could remember him ever being, and he was wolfing the food down.

"Didn't have a late lunch today, I see." she commented as Jake took yet another grateful mouthful.

He swallowed before answering, an unusually rare act of manners for this young man, "nope" he answered smiling.


	7. 7 Forever

_Chapter 5: Forever._

So much of them had died that day. What was left was something else. For a while the group had clung to their past, meeting with the Chi when they could, catching up on the family business. But they were so far removed. The words seemed somehow hollow and unimportant. Fleeting sounds of silence between constant battles.

They could never go home. Years had passed and they remained unchanged. Like dried flowers, only the color remained. How old were they? What year was it? When did it begin?

Marco on the outside aged, and changed. He got into a degree of business at the community collage. His dad had wanted him to do science, he'd gotten the grades for it. But Marco wanted to own a shop. His father finally relented when Marco had reminded him that he had his whole life to try out different things. One night, Marco had a friend home from Collage. The kid was a bit weird. Peter tried to be friendly, but there was something about her that had just freaked him out. Especially when the girl gave him a gruff, manly hug and had almost cried when he introduced his second wife…

Rachel never went home. But that didn't mean that she didn't follow them for a while. In fact she stalked them. Would follow them around the Mall. Watch herself and her sisters from a safe distance. At one point, she'd thought about pulling a Marco and morphing someone random, going up and greeting herself like an old friend. But then she saw Rachel giving Jordan a sisterly shove, and Jordan actually laughing. Rachel realized that she hadn't been replaced. She'd been improved. She'd stopped tracking them after that.

Cassie morphed osprey and glided into the barn. She'd heard him r moving about earlier that morning. And with no battle planned, she decided to spend some time observing.

Cassie was helping her dad mend a broken wing on the old operating slab. The young woman was well on her way to becoming a vet. Her parents were so proud. Her dad, sensing he was being watched, looked up from his delicate work to spot the bird.

"Huh?" he looked confused and Cassie realized how stupid she'd been. Osprey liked to hang around water. And the closest thing they had to the ocean or a lake was a small creek a few Kilometers away. Cassie followed his line of sight and spotted the bird amongst the rafters. She frowned disapprovingly. "What do you think its doing here?" Her father asked as he returned to the careful stitching.

Cassie glared back down at the man and his twenty year old daughter. Her father had a little grey in his hair now. "I think it's just taking in a bit of scenery." Cassie responded, mouthing the words 'go away' up at the bird.

"Do you think it can find its way home?" he asked, sounding as if he were considering a catch, relocate, and release operation.

Cassie sighed inwardly, knowing her two hours were nearly up anyway as she swooped out the open doors. "I guess that answers your question." she heard herself joke as she flew back into the forest.

Decades past, the war over. There was no all out war; a few andilites arrived with something all too familiar. A virus. A mechanical virus this time. To destroy the kandrona ray generators, effectively starving the Yerks to death. Not even Cassie felt sorry for them anymore. No, even for the ones on their side. Because Cassie had realized there was no 'good' or 'evil'. Good and Bad were just a perceptive in the end. She'd killed more people than she could possibly dare to count.

Ax went home.

Tobias, the bird boy, became human and grew old with Rachel. Getting dirty looks as he aged and she didn't. _Dirty old man. Pervert. Rape. _The accusations never ended, but the relationship did. 

Tom died first, overdose. Jake wasn't sure if it was suicide or not. The Chi wouldn't answer him. They all went to the funeral, dressed as someone else.

By the time the next funeral occurred, it didn't really matter anymore. Marco's father. Aged eighty seven. They went wearing their faces and sat up the back. There were a few odd glances from some old high school aquatinces that Marco had obviously kept throughout the years. No one ever said anything. The truth is often easier to ignore.

It was getting thin. Time was getting thin. Rachel felt she could see through it. Like she was more real than it ever was. As if time were just a concept; relative to how she imagined it to be. She could hear Cassie in the next room; she was up writing those books of hers. They'd spent a good twenty odd years apart, the four of them. Played the lives of someone else. Pretended to be real people, with real lives. But that game had worn thin. And here they were again. The Animorphs minus two.

Four dead friends together forever


End file.
